John Heckle – Tributes To A Sun God [BDN010]

August 1, 2016May 26, 2023 hipodromebedouin records, chicago house, house, john heckle, technoLeave a comment

John Heckle is remarkably prolific, but still manages to maintain an impressively high quality threshold. On Tributes To A Sun God, he’s in a remarkably melodious mood. While opener “Alexandria” comes blessed with his usual tough analogue beats – not to mention the hissing cymbals of Detroit techno – its’ most endearing features are the drowsy pads and undulating melody lines. A similar approach can be found on the more acid-centric “Mesopatamia”, which pops and spits with dancefloor intent. A fine package is completed by handclap-heavy drum workout “Track 4”, and the Ambient House era electronics and sparse drum hits of “Track 2”.

Frak – UH006 [UH006]

July 28, 2016October 24, 2024 hipodromeacid, album, bjorn isgren, frak, jan svensson, johan sturesson, techno, ultimate hitsLeave a comment

Since 1987, Frak have been everyone’s favourite, premier Swedish synthesizer-touching weirdos. Even if most people hadn’t heard of them until 4 years ago. And yet, world of Frak is as long as it is wide. As blue as it is black. As ominous as it is glorious. As dirty as it is hairdryer. Sweet it is as yellow paper As. All of the above is a perfect example of how trying to convey what Frak is in the crass form of words is ultimately fruitless. Here is a double 12” vinyl product from Ultimate Hits featuring eight audio recordings from Frak: three men who have known each other since at least 1987. The sleeve was lovingly hand screen-printed at the studio of House of Traps, and features the colours commonly known as pink and black.

Cliff Lothar – All It Takes [TURBO179]

July 28, 2016July 11, 2022 hipodromecliff lothar, house, techno, turbo recordingsLeave a comment

Cliff has clearly been smoking something special. “All It Takes” is one of his richest efforts to date, and that’s saying a lot coming off a consistent roll of terrific releases. A-side “Devotion” answers the EP title’s question with a masterclass in heavyweight groove-building. It’s an instant cult anthem, gritty but buttery compression, warm, wet bass, driven forward by stoner-friendly organ solos and the vocal call. It’s a perfect afterhours gear-shifter, squelching with the sweat of one hundred thousand hours of studio jamming and countless seasons of acid. “100 Dollars” is wiggly pork bun of a beat, our old friend Roland never sounding fatter or more luxurious. The only question here is whether this super-kush urban house bomb is more well paired with a low-slung indica driving in an elite automobile, or a punchy sativa dancing in a world-exclusive night club. “Big Brother” is a paranoid romp through the dark corridors of your dance-algorithm, a wonky, dissociative funk experience for heavy heads trying to unlock their own brainwashed brain and seriously dance. Rounding things off is “Xenit”, a relatively placid, deep, trancey trip that transports you 8 hours in to an amazing party, when you’re loose and well oiled with positive feelings.

Borusiade – Feelings Of Entropy EP [COR044]

July 28, 2016January 5, 2018 hipodromeborusiade, correspondant, electro, romanian, technoLeave a comment

Romanian born, and Berlin Based, Borusiade (aka Miruna Boruzescu) makes her Correspondant debut in dazzlingly bleak fashion. Over a four track EP the artist manages to channel a wealth of disparate sounds, referencing Giallo disco, New Wave longing and Pitched-down ghetto techno amongst other dark and otherworldly tropes. All of the music on offer here possesses a slow and dark drive that purposes it for the dance floor, but also contain such a wealth of loss despair, and a perverse pathos that elevates them from simple dance music and move them in to a more artistic realm.

Seixlack – Bed Bug Bites EP [XK004]

July 28, 2016October 31, 2017 hipodromeacid, fernando seixlack, seixlack, techno, x-kalayLeave a comment

Hot off the back of his debut LP for Delroy Edwards’ LA Club Resource as alter-ego Innyster, Seixlack serves up an EP of trademark, super raw, machine funk. Spanning the full gambit of dredged up acid, synth stacked daydreams and straight up 4×4, the breadth of this EP showcases a real talent.

Amato – Le Desordre Et La Nuit [CITI020]

July 28, 2016February 16, 2022 hipodromeamato, cititrax, electro, industrial, michel amato, minimal wave records, techno, the hackerLeave a comment

AMATO - Le Desordre Et La Nuit

Michel Amato aka Amato is a French producer more widely known as The Hacker. Alongside Miss Kittin, Amato has been a cornerstone of the European house, techno, and electro scene, dropping singles and album like bombs. Having contributed to a previous split 12″ on Cititrax, Amato returns to Minimal Wave’s sister label with a wondrous homage to industrial, EBM and electro in Le Desordre De La Nuit. The difference between The Hacker and Amato? The sounds of The Hacker are more constrained than this particular whirlpool of pseudo electro and gargling quasi techno. Whatever you want to call it, these four slammers are all made for the dark room dance, each one nastier than the other and all of them audibly produced by an artist with plenty of experience and effectiveness know-how.

Ron Morelli – Dekmantel Podcast 079

July 27, 2016July 27, 2016 hipodromedekmantel festival, dekmantel records, house, l.i.e.s., long island electrical systems, podcast, ron morelli, technoLeave a comment

Hipodrome Podcast 020 – Roxxete

July 22, 2016March 15, 2018 hipodromeelectro, hipodrome, house, interview, podcast, romanian, roxxete, techno, the hipodrome of musicLeave a comment

hipodrome podcast 020

The 20th podcast from the Hipodrome Series makes a premiere, is actually the first female dj that has a podcast on our site. Roxxete aka Roxana Zangar is a young dj from Cluj, but she is making a name for herself for quite some years already. Her style is very melodic, strongly rhythmic, with great attention to detail. With a strong curiosity for the spiritual side of music, she believes in sharing her feelings, moods and beliefs through sound.

Continue reading “Hipodrome Podcast 020 – Roxxete” →

Johannes Volk – Fanzine Podcast 041

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 hipodromefanzine records, johannes volk, podcast, technoLeave a comment

www.fanzineproject.com

Head Technician – Zones [E022LP]

July 19, 2016November 27, 2017 hipodromeacid, album, ecstatic recordings, martin jenkins, techno, the head technicianLeave a comment

Ecstatic label catch Martin Jenkins (Pye Corner Audio) in Head Technician garb for a slippery set of slow, plasmic acid workouts that were originally issued on a super-limited tape, and now sit heavy on wax. Over the years Jenkins has used the Head Technician alter ego as a sort of evil engineer Hyde analogous to his day-to-day Jekyll, a sort of hyperstitious studio partner in a time-honoured tradition of sleeve credits ghost chasing. Where Pye Corner Audio’s pieces may tend to be lustrous, optimistic, the Head Technician’s Zones LP hems to the shadows of the ‘floor with a furtive, noirish quality that works a treat in the right situations, whether soundtracking gaslamp-lit raves or midnight street patrols seeking out ne’erdowells and laudanum dealers.
Fired on a classic trinity of Roland TR-606 drum machine with an MC-202 (a beast to program, he admits) and TB-303 to sequence his baselines, it clearly makes explicit reference to the early days of Detroit techno and UK bleep ’n bass, but the vibe is more anachronistic, out-of-time, possibly thanks to his patented, lagging basslines and slowly unfolding arrangements, bridging that imaginary, dilated gap between fuzzy dancefloor head melt and curtains-drawn next day gouch out.

VA – #3 White LP [US012]

July 19, 2016July 19, 2016 hipodromebreakin moves, cofaxx, compilation, fetnat, house, kzip, moodcut, mutual attraction, nous disques, ruff degan, technoLeave a comment

3 Year Compilation LP. There’s something undeniably old-fashioned about this latest missive from hyped imprint Nous Disques. By gathering together seven unheard tracks on one slab of wax, they recall thoughts of classic compilations from early techno labels. Musically, it’s undeniably forward thinking, gathering together a range of dancefloor-friendly cuts from label artists old and new. Highlights are plentiful, from the flexible disco bass and new age chords of Mutual Attraction’s “Track 2”, to the stripped-back, drum machine thump of Moodcut’s “Sleep In 808”, via the cybernetic techno fizz of “Azoui” by Fetnat. Elsewhere, you’ll also find some fine Larry Heard style deep house revivalism from Breakin Moves, and a mid-tempo blast of colourful synthesizer love by Cofaxx.

Echo 106 – Shifting Multiverse EP [AF004]

July 19, 2016November 27, 2017 hipodromeacid, analogical force, bruno schnüriger, ceephax, ceephax acid crew, echo 106, hansruedi schnüriger, technoLeave a comment

Analogical Force is introducing Echo 106 to the family. The Swiss duo serves up more hard-wired fare for those who like their dance music intense and rugged. Opener “Frontal DN-2” sets the tone, layering ragged acid lines, psychedelic electronics and creepy chords atop a crispy TR-808 rhythm. There’s more 303 abuse to be found on the more electro flavoured “Shifting Multiverse” and “Myrtle Acid”, with the latter arguably being the pick of the bunch. Naturally, the most banging contribution to the EP comes from remixer Ceephax Acid Crew, who turns “Myrtle Acid” into a trippy stomper.

Daniele Cosmo @ FemurClub, Specka (Madrid) 01.07.2016

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 hipodromedaniele cosmo, electro, femur, lux rec, specka, technoLeave a comment

214 – Fuel Cells [CPU00100000]

July 18, 2016February 16, 2023 hipodrome214, central processing unit, chris roman, electro, technoLeave a comment

Seattle-based electro artist 214 (Two Fourteen) aka Chris Roman has made a welcome, if not inevitable debut on CPU, with 4 tracks of icy beats, bass and bleeps. He begins with the panicked electronics, bubbling synths and snappy rhythms of “Overbridge”, before diving deep into purist electro pastures on the funk-laden brilliance of “Fuel Cells”. Flip for the similarly funky 303 lines, intergalactic melodies and hissing electro beats of “Keep Right”, and the darker, spacier and punchier “Greenbelt”. If you’re on the hunt for some “proper electro”, look no further.

Lok44 – Bous [TRUST025]

July 18, 2016January 10, 2023 hipodromedan lodig, electro, lok44, techno, trustLeave a comment

Lost spaceship Lok44 returns to its home planet, and it has been mightily upgraded with alien bass technology since dropping ‘Ghetto of the Mind’ and ‘Derailed’ on TRUST over 10 years ago. ‘Bous’ is a vigorous comeback, touching on lean and mean electro funk, broken house, and hypnotic outer-orbit bleeps across its four tracks. Lucky owners of ‘Bous’s two highly sought-after precursors will recognise common stylistic threads spanning the decades, but just as before, Lok44 prefers to veer off on tangents, sketchily exploring unknown bass music quadrants. Second release in the ‘Covert Systems’ series, limited quantity.

CN – Obscure Fragments [SLPR003]

July 18, 2016June 29, 2022 hipodromecn, electro, house, sleepers, stian gjevik, technoLeave a comment

Wonderful, driving, Drexciya schooled Electro refreshment from CN aka Stian Gjevik on Sleepers.

Voiski – I’ll Be Your Maple Pecan Tonight [DKMNTLUFO3]

July 15, 2016December 13, 2017 hipodromedekmantel records, dekmantel ufo, techno, voiskiLeave a comment

Envisaging a trustworthy approach to sound, French DJ and producer Voiski has steadily built a name for himself in contemporary left-field dance music. He took a singular path in techno, oscillating between experimental projects and signature sound dance floor material. The Parisian brings his versatile skills together on the third installment of Dekmantel’s UFO series, serving up five completely different yet coherent sounding tracks. The beat lacking ambient synth jam ‘Go To A Mountain’ is a display of Voiski’s ear for mesmerizing soundscapes, while the pulsating, Nintendocore fuelled ‘Happy Piece’ and the dark, bass-heavy ‘Seriously No’ are two peak-time beasts. On the B-side, ‘Come Back’ gives you a glimpse of what the future of techno sounds like, whereas ‘Drama In the Futuristic Cabinet’ echoes Hi Tech Soul gone breakbeat.

Savas Pascalidis – Full Dimension [RRR010]

July 15, 2016 hipodromeraw raw records, savas pascalidis, technoLeave a comment

Raw Raw Records presents 2nd vinyl release from Savas Pascalidis.

Abstract Frequencies ‎– Rarefied Air [AES020]

July 13, 2016July 2, 2019 hipodromeabstract frequencies, aesthetic audio, hieroglyphic being, house, keith worthy, steven tang, technoLeave a comment

Fresh out of the Midwest Keith Worthy (Detroit), Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being (Chicago) and Steven Tang (Chicago) bringing some of that notorious Midwest D.N.A. on this deep acid banger.

Samo DJ – Kicked Out Of Everywhere [TTT044]

July 13, 2016 hipodromehouse, samo dj, samo forsberg, scott young, techno, the trilogy tapesLeave a comment

The forty -fourth release on Will Bankhead’s highly lauded The Trilogy Tapes comes from Born Free co-founder Samo DJ. Given the Swede’s eclectic approach, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Kicked Out of Everywhere is a pleasingly mixed-up affair. Opener “Bleeps” drags the fuzzy, sparse and bass-heavy sound of Early British techno kicking and screaming into the industrial techno age (admittedly via the broken beats of West London), while “LKF” is simultaneously dreamy, trippy and rhythmically intense. Some may hear the influence of early Belgian techno in the slippery throb of “Medellin”, while the weird, spaced-out “Downer” sounds like hazy jazz after several shoe boxes full of Ketamine.